1984 by George Orwell

            1984 by George Orwell is entertaining and excellently written both in terms of political ideas and plot construction. It does have a few flaws, however. The ending is unsatisfactory and makes quite a tragedy (as far as democratic Americans are concerned). Questions are left unanswered. How could Winston become brainwashed? He so desperately wanted truth to stand. His failure can be attributed to a lack of confidence in his own ability to reason so that his whole intellect broke down in the face of pain, becoming a wasteland just like most of the minds in Oceania. This makes me wonder whether or not I could withstand. I want to say that I could, but under such trauma it is difficult to say. Although Orwell could be using the book make democratic countries thankful for their situation, he is most likely warning us about where our society could end up. To that end, he makes a convincing but dubious argument. The tyrannical control of people’s entire lives and most devastatingly, the complete control of truth appeals primarily to ethos and pathos because his society is illogical. In practice, people do not enjoy power as much as wealth and glory. Power is a means to an end. Rulers throughout the ages have craved power so that they could be respected, worshiped, and paid by their subjects. They would never limit themselves just to get the power. Orwell’s society may seem impregnable, but it could not arise without falling apart due to the greed of men. It is difficult enough for people to share things in a society with ownership, could the members of the Inner Party really strip themselves of all of their wealth and leave no trace of themselves when they die? Orwell’s society would have collapsed before it began. Before the society could become completely oppressive, people would have objected severely to the destruction of truth.

Reflections on the Party in 1984 by George Orwell after Reading Chapter 9

            In 1984 by George Orwell, Winston gets a copy of the Book and begins to read it in his hideout in the upper room of Mr. Charrington’s shop. The Book mostly confirmed suspicions that I already had about the way Oceania and the rest of the world worked. For instance, the Party presumably does actually send rocket bombs onto its own civilians to help keep their patriotic vehemence fired up against the enemy among other reasons. I felt like Winston, that it was nice to have a book that agreed with you even though it held very little new information. Nevertheless, I found it interesting that the wars exist to destroy materials so that people do not become too wealthy in their industriousness because wealth leads to insurrection. I already thought that the war probably existed only for the purpose of keeping the Party in power, but I had not linked the wealth part. I had also pictured a slightly more personal Inner Party that kept the Outer Party and the Proles in check not just to keep themselves in power, but also for their own pleasure, freedom, and leisure. On the contrary, the Inner Party follows much of the same frugality and doublethink. The reason the Party exists, from their point of view, is simply to acquire pure power. They are willing to sacrifice anything and everything permanently to get it. In a sense, every good Party member, no matter what class abolishes their personality. I find it hard to believe this case for pure power. People always worship something, whether it is God, a person, or an object. Orwell confuses a self-worship leading to a hunger for power with a pure desire for power. The root is worship, not power, so a power centered society should not be possible. I am missing a piece, however, because this chapter strengthened the incredibility and impenetrability of the Party, so I need to figure out how this society should collapse or why it never could come to exist in the first place.

Newspeak Summary of Hamlet and King Lear

Hamlet unchoosing foolish delay kill uncle stop King Lear property unjoin stop only unbestowed daughter faithful stop rectify too late unsurvive

"My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning

            “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning. The narrator has a sarcastic tone throughout. From the very beginning when he says, “I call that piece a wonder, now,” his treatment of the painting of his wife is condescending and jocular. It is ironic that he behaves this way because we would expect the narrator, presumably a duke, to have an air of respect, sadness, or at least melancholy when talking about his deceased wife. The duke comments that “ ‘twas not her husband’s presence only, called that spot of joy into the Duchess’ cheek.” Literally, this indicates that his wife was a cheery, joyful woman, but in the duke’s sarcastic manner, this is also an understatement of perhaps a lack of faithfulness on her part—as to the severity, it is difficult to tell. He again understates her wide selection of things to praise by saying that she had “a heart--how shall I say?—too soon made glad.” What he really believes is that she did not value him highly enough. He goes on to discuss all of the trifling things that caused her to smile. The problem is not so much her absence of love for her husband but all of the other things that make it too ordinary. The most sarcastic part of the whole poem is lines 31-35. The duchess’s thanks to men is good, but she somehow thanks them as if the duke’s 900 year old name is of equal importance. In other words, she hardly values her marriage by which she acquired his prestigious name. He understates his obvious annoyance by commenting consecutively that he would never stoop to blame the (not so small) trifling. Instead of stooping with encouragement, he commanded her to change her behavior and she no longer smiles at anything. The end of the poem makes it sound like he just treats the duchess as a prize of his “collection” of artifacts because he ironically simply proceeds to show off a bronze statue of Neptune.